Joseph Nuno had a suspicion that the 14-year-old Torrance girl he was chatting with online about sex wasn’t who she said she was.

A detective who testified in court Wednesday said the 48-year-old Long Beach man accused him several times of being a cop or an activist during more than a month of virtual conversations.

But on Dec. 18, despite his concerns, Nuno showed up outside a Torrance drugstore to meet the girl anyway, and was arrested, according to Detective Dennis Brady – the only witness to testify during Nuno’s preliminary hearing.

Following the hearing, Torrance Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold determined there was enough evidence to hold Nuno for trial on one count each of arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes and possession of child pornography.

If convicted, he faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison.

Brady said during questioning by Deputy District Attorney Nicole Vo that he was first contacted by Nuno, who used the online name “doghairs2003,” on Nov. 14 in a Yahoo! chatroom.

During many conversations in the weeks to follow, Brady, pretending to be the teen girl, said it appeared to him that Nuno was “grooming a minor” for sex.

About half their discussions were about sex – specifically, the kind of intimate acts they would do to each other, Brady said.

After Nuno’s arrest, Nuno’s cellular telephone and computer were examined by the police, Brady said.

Several hundred photos of young girls, which Brady opined were pornographic, were found on his computer. Similar material was found on his cell phone, Brady added.

The detective said he identified some of the girls in the photos. He spoke with one girl and her mother and confirmed she was a minor who sent the photos of herself to Nuno.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Bruce McGregor asked the detective if he would “re-engage” Nuno in communication after Nuno would become suspicious and try to end the conversation.

Although Nuno nodded his head silently from his seat, Brady denied that he ever re-initiated contact with Nuno.

Toward the end of the hearing, Arnold questioned Brady about why he believed Nuno intended the meeting to be for sex.